Porphyromonas gingivalis: Major Periodontopathic Pathogen Overview

Abstract

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative oral anaerobe that is involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and is a member of more than 500 bacterial species that live in the oral cavity. This anaerobic bacterium is a natural member of the oral microbiome, yet it can become highly destructive (termed pathobiont) and proliferate to high cell numbers in periodontal lesions: this is attributed to its arsenal of specialized virulence factors. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of one of the main periodontal pathogens—Porphyromonas gingivalis. This bacterium, along with Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia, constitute the “red complex,” a prototype polybacterial pathogenic consortium in periodontitis. This review outlines Porphyromonas gingivalis structure, its metabolism, its ability to colonize the epithelial cells, and its influence upon the host immunity.

Mucosal Microbiome in Patients with Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

“…Total genera from the order Bacteroidales comprising several Gram-negative microorganisms of the normal colonic microbiota as well as oral opportunistic pathogens (Colombo et al 2013) predominated in healthy sites from RAS patients over HCs. Porphyromonadaceae comprising species specifically associated with periodontal disease (Mysak et al 2014) and Veillonellaceae for which diverse roles in oral health and disease are reported predominated only in ulcerated sites over HC. No quantitative differences of these 2 families were observed between healthy sites in RAS patients and HCs.…”

Gene Regulation, Two Component Regulatory Systems, and Adaptive Responses in Treponema Denticola

“…Bacterial species that are directly involved in influencing the environment and composition of the microbial community and disease progression as a whole have been referred to as "keystone pathogens" with other potentially less important species classified as "accessory" organisms (Darveau 2009;. The term, keystone pathogen, in the context of periodontal disease, was first applied to P. gingivalis which is arguably the most intensively studied periopathogen (Mysak et al 2014). It has been proposed that in spite of its low abundance at disease sites, it can initiate a cascade of events that is required for disease progression (Hajishengallis et al 2011).…”

“…Consistent with this T. denticola has also been designated as a keystone pathogen. Excellent reviews, too many to list here, are available detailing the roles that P. gingivalis, T. denticola and other bacteria play in periodontal disease (Darveau 2010;Dashper et al 2010;How et al 2016;McDowell et al 2012;Mysak et al 2014;Podzimek et al 2015;Sharma 2010). …”

Role of Signal-Regulated Changes in Microtubule Stability Dynamics through <i>α</i>-Tubulin Phosphorylation on Ser/Tyr in Modulation of Salivary Gland Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) Secretion in Response to <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i> and Ghrelin

“…Porphyromonas gingivalis is a potent periodontopathic pathogen implicated in the etiology of periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects about 15% of population and leads to progressive destruction of teeth-supporting tissue, and is a major cause of adult tooth loss [1] [2] [3]. The oral mucosal responses to P. gingivalis and its key endotoxin, cell-wall lipopolysaccharide (LPS), are characterized by the disturbances in nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase systems, up-regulation in EGFR and MAPK activation, and induction in the secretion of highly glycosylated endopeptidase, metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) [4] [5] [6] [7] [8].…”